Win Scott Eckert.com

Time's Last Gift - Bonus Materials

2012-01-24T21:10:00.001-07:00

Following on last night's announcement about the bonus materials for Titan Books' reissue of The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, I'm thrilled to reveal the contributions to the new edition of Time's Last Gift.

First, go here and read Christopher Paul Carey's news about his afterword. Then come right back here to read the rest.

In addition to Chris' fine afterword, the new edition includes a piece which Wold Newton fans won't want to miss: "Gribardsun through the Ages: A Chronology of Major Events Pertinent to Time’s Last Gift" by Win Scott Eckert and Dennis E. Power.

Time's Last Gift, first published in 1972, and revised in 1977, is one of Philip José Farmer's finest novels, telling the tale of the mysterious time traveler John Gribardsun. It also serves as a prequel to Mr. Farmer'sseries of books featuring the land of Khokarsa in Ancient Africa (Hadon of Ancient Opar, Flight to Opar, and the forthcoming The Song of Kwasin).

Time's Last Gift is currently scheduled for release in June 2012, and is available for pre-order at major outlets such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Editions include trade paperback and digital (Kindle & Nook).

The book is second in Titan Books' ongoing series of Wold Newton novels. More titles will follow, so keep following Mr. Farmer's official website, and Facebook (Philip José Farmer | Win Scott Eckert) for more information.

Both Chris' afterword and our timeline are exclusive to this edition:

Afterword: "John Gribardsun and the Prehistoric Wold Newton Family" by Christopher Paul Carey
"Gribardsun through the Ages: A Chronology of Major Events Pertinent to Time’s Last Gift" by Win Scott Eckert and Dennis E. Power

So hop over to Amazon or Barnes & Noble and place your pre-order now!

The Other Log of Phileas Fogg - Bonus Materials

2012-01-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

I'm very pleased to announce that I'll be contributing two bonus pieces to the Titan Books reissue of Philip José Farmer's "secret history" novel The Other Log of Phileas Fogg.

Other Log reveals the hidden events behind Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. First published in 1973, the book is considered to be one of the first examples of elder steampunk.

The Other Log of Phileas Fogg is currently scheduled for release in May 2012, and is available for pre-order at major outlets such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Editions include trade paperback and digital (Kindle & Nook).

Other Log kicks off Titan's series of Wold Newton novels, to be followed by Time's Last Gift in June 2012. More titles will follow, so stay tuned to Mr. Farmer's official website, and Facebook (Philip Jose Farmer | Win Scott Eckert) for more information.

As for the bonus materials, the new edition will contain the following pieces, exclusive to this edition:

a new afterword entitled "Only a Coincidence: Phileas Fogg, Philip José Farmer, and the Wold Newton Family"
a timeline entitled "A Chronology of MajorEvents Pertinent to The Other Log ofPhileas Fogg"

So get over to Amazon or Barnes & Noble and get your pre-order in now!

FarmerCon VII / Pulpfest 2012

2012-01-21T17:01:00.003-07:00

I've finalized my plans to be at FarmerCon VII / Pulpfest 2012 in August. I'll be at the Meteor House table, where I'll have copies of the new Titan Books editions of Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton books The Other Log of Phileas Fogg and Time's Last Gift, as well as Lord Tyger. I imagine I'll also have news about more Farmer reissues from Titan (hint, hint). My friend Christopher Paul Carey will be there promoting Gods of Opar.

I'll also have copies of the recent Tales of the Shadowmen 8: Agents Provocateurs (Black Coat Press) and I imagine Moonstone Books' Sherlock Holmes: The Crossovers Casebook will be out by then, so I'll bring copies. Lots of Wold-Newtony goodness in my stories in those volumes.

I also have hopes that Moonstone's The Green Hornet: Still at Large, which I'm co-editing with Joe Gentile and Matthew Baugh, will be out by then, although that's not confirmed yet. If it's available, of course I'll have copies with me.

Hope to see you there!

P.S. Stay tuned to this space; I hope to have an announcement about the new edition of The Other Log of Phileas Fogg soon!

Howard Hopkins, R.I.P.

2012-01-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

My friend, and fellow writer and editor, Howard Hopkins, passed away last week at the too young age of 50. Howard was my editor on the first two Avenger anthologies from Moonstone Books, and the forthcoming Sherlock Holmes: The Crossovers Casebook anthology from Moonstone. He was the authority on the pulp hero The Avenger, and penned The Gray Nemesis, which is and will remain the go-to comprehensive overview of the character.

I also had the pleasure of co-editing three of his Green Hornet tales (the third forthcoming in The Green Hornet: Still at Large). He turned in some of the cleanest, most professional first draft manuscripts I've seen.

Howard's authorized Lone Ranger novel, Vendetta, is also due out soon from Moonstone, and I know that Howard was justifiably proud of this achievement. I can't wait to read it the moment it comes out.

I learned a lot from Howard, who was very patient in his commentary, and am proud to say that by my second and third submissions to him, I had very few comments back. As I said, he was a good an patient teacher, and truly cared about craft in writing. I will miss working with him, and will miss him.

The best way I can think of to honor Howard is to go out and buy and read as much of his work as possible. Here is a link to his novels available on Amazon.

But there's another way to help... unfortunately.

At the request of Howard's wife, Dominique, Chuck Juzek has passed the following info along to the pulp fan community. Due to a mistake by their insurance agent 6 months ago that Dominique only became aware of after Howard's death, Howard's life insurance had lapsed at the time of his death. As a result, in addition to everything else that his passing means to her, she's now scrambling in order to find the funds to pay for his funeral expenses. If you have the ability, she's accepting donations to help pay for those expenses; at her request, below is her address for anyone that wishes to contribute.

Dominique Hopkins
2 McKee Drive
Old Orchard Beach, ME 04064

I'm still in shock, but I can't begin to imagine what Mrs. Hopkins is going through. Any help will be greatly appreciated, I'm sure. Meteor House, a small press I sometimes work with, is also pitching in.

Rest in Peace, Howard. You were--are--the epitome of a Pro.

Going Global in 2012

2012-01-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

A German translation of Philip Jose Farmer's classic Sherlock Holmes-Lord Greystoke pastiche The Peerless Peer will appear in 2012 from German publisher Atlantis Verlag as Sherlock Holmes and the Legend of Greystoke. I'm pleased to note that the afterword I provided for the 2011 edition from Titan Books (which appears to be selling like hotcakes on Amazon) will be translated and included in the German edition.

Later in January, French publisher Riviere Blanche is putting out Les Compagnons de l'Ombre (Tome 9),which will include "L'Invitation de Nadine," a French translation of my Wold Newton story "Nadine's Invitation."

Finally, although plans are not finalized yet, there is a decent chance that I'll have a Sherlock Holmes story included in a projected second volume of the Brazilian anthology Sherlock Holmes--Secret Adventures. The first volume, Sherlock Holmes--Aventuras Secretas, is edited by Carlos Orsi and Marcelo Galvão, and is due out from Brazilian publisher Editora Draco on January 27, 2012.

2011 Review & 2012 Preview!

2011-12-31T13:43:00.000-07:00

2011 Review of publications:

Short Fiction

"Zorro's Rival" in More Tales of Zorro by Richard Dean Starr (ed.) (Moonstone Books, March 2011)
"Happy Death Men" in The Avenger: The Justice, Inc. Files by Joe Gentile and Howard Hopkins (eds.) (Moonstone Books, August 2011)
"Bad Medicine" in The Green Hornet Casefiles by Joe Gentile and Win Scott Eckert (eds.) (with Vito Delsante) (Moonstone Books, August 2011)
"Marguerite's Tears" in Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 8: Agents Provocateurs by Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier (eds.) (Black Coat Press, December 2011)

Books Edited

The Green Hornet Casefiles (with Joe Gentile), Moonstone Books, August 2011.

Short Nonfiction

"Afterword" to The Peerless Peer by Philip José Farmer (Titan Books, June 2011)
"Introduction" to Scarlet in Gaslight by Martin Powell (Pulp 2.0 Books, December 2011)

2012 Preview:

Short Fiction (completed)

"The Adventure of the Fallen Stone" in Sherlock Holmes: The Crossovers Casebook by Howard Hopkins (ed.) (Moonstone Books, forthcoming)
"Progress" in The Green Hornet: Still at Large by Joe Gentile, Win Scott Eckert, and Matthew Baugh (eds.) (Moonstone Books, forthcoming)
"Zombies under Broadway" (a Green Ghost tale, written with Eric Fein) (Moonstone Books, forthcoming)

Short Fiction (to be written)

"A Girl and Her Cat" for Moonstone's Honey West anthology
As-yet untitled "Wold Newton Origins" tale for Meteor House's third The Worlds of Philip Jose Farmer anthology
As-yet untitled story for Moonstone's third Avenger anthology, The Avenger: Tales from Bleek Street (the plan is to wrap up the storyline from my first two tales, including a return engagement for the Domino Lady)
Story for a Moonstone anthology crossing over a well-know pulp secret agent for which Moonstone has acquired the license, and the Green Ghost (more info when I can make it available!)

Books Edited

The Green Hornet: Still at Large (with Joe Gentile and Matthew Baugh), Moonstone Books, forthcoming.

Short Nonfiction

Much bonus material for Titan Books' new reissues of Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton Novels; more details coming soon!

Other: I may still write a Sherlock Holmes novel, but Titan has more Wold Newton reissues waiting in the wings, so I'll need to see what my schedule allows. Stay tuned to this space!

The Green Hornet: Still at Large - "Progress"

2011-12-31T12:20:00.000-07:00

Just in time to conclude 2011, I finalized my contribution to Moonstone Books' The Green Hornet: Still at Large today. My story is called "Progress," and it's a Britt/Casey tale which also features the return, in an unexpected way, of a villain from The Hornet's past (hint: the villain appeared in my story "Fang and Sting" from 2010's The Green Hornet Chronicles).

The Green Hornet: Still at Large is edited by Joe Gentile, Win Scott Eckert, and Matthew Baugh, and is due out from Moonstone in 2012 (more details and a solicit coming soon), with gorgeous covers by Ruben Procopio and Doug Klauba.

Happy New Year!

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2011-12-25T06:30:00.001-07:00

The Green Hornet: Still at Large

2011-12-18T20:37:00.003-07:00

Getting close to the finish line on wrapping up my story for Moonstone's The Green Hornet: Still at Large--as well as continuing to work on edits on the other Hornet stories with the ever-stalwart Matthew Baugh and Joe Gentile.

Over the holidays, I need to write an afterword to one of the new Wold Newton books coming soon from Titan Books, help gather some other bonus materials for the new Wold Newton books, and make a really good start on my Honey West-T.H.E. Cat crossover story for Moonstone's Honey West anthology.

Then, by the beginning of February, I need to be writing an new Wold Newton Origins story for Meteor House's The Worlds of Philip Jose Farmer 3.

Phew. Thank goodness for the holiday "time off"!

Happy Wold Newton Day!

2011-12-13T12:33:00.002-07:00

I'm down with a triple-whammy strep throat, sinus infection, and ear infection, so my celebration today is a bit limited. But I want to encourage all Wold Newton fans to pre-order the new editions of The Other Log of Phileas Fogg and Time's Last Gift, coming from Titan Books in May and June 2012, respectively.

Yes, you might already have older copies... but can any self-respecting Wold Newton fan pass up adding these new editions to your collection, particularly as they are being issued as a Wold Newton series for the very first time? In addition, these reissues will include bonus material from some of the top experts in the field!

So, don't wait, place your pre-order now, help make the the Wold Newton series a success, and... Happy Wold Newton Day!

The Other Log of Phileas Fogg
Amazon - trade paperback
Amazon - Kindle (eBook)

Barnes & Noble - trade paperback
Barnes & Noble - Nook (eBook)

Time's Last Gift
Amazon - trade paperback
Amazon - Kindle (eBook)

Barnes & Noble - trade paperback
Barnes & Noble - Nook (eBook)

Mike Shayne in New Orleans

2011-12-08T17:00:00.000-07:00

I've been aware of Brett Halliday's Mike Shayne series for a long time, and have been collecting quite a few of the books, particularly those with McGinnis covers. Like so many collectors, it's hard for me to find the time to read everything I buy, and I haven't hit the Shaynes yet, with the exception of three tales from Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine penned by James Reasoner under the Halliday name in the early 1980s. These were The Black Lotus, Death from the Sky, and Doomsday Island, and feature a female descendant of Dr. Fu Manchu (the connection is strongly implied, not explicit, due to copyright reasons).

I discuss these stories in my essay "Who's Going to Take Over the WorldWhen I'm Gone? (A Look at the Genealogies of Wold Newton FamilySuper-Villains and Their Nemeses)" in my MYTHS FOR THE MODERN AGE: PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER’S WOLD NEWTON UNIVERSE, as well as my CROSSOVERS: A Secret Chronology of the World 1 & 2.

In any event, I had always thought Shayne was strictly Miami-based, and had no recollection that he also worked in New Orleans (although I do see that my friend and colleague Brad Mengel mentioned Shayne's New Orleans sojourn in his essay "The Land Family," which incorporated Shayne into the wider Wold Newton Family).

So imagine my pleasure upon wandering into the French Quarter's Kitchen Witch Cookbooks last week (my wife in search of authentic Cajun and Creole recipes which she can duplicate and alter to accommodate a gluten-free diet), and as we are about to pay for the cookbooks, I see an old Mike Shayne paperback prominently displayed near the register, a Dell double Dead Man's Diary and Dinner at Dupre's (1945 & 1946).

Why a Mike Shayne paperback in Kitchen Witch Cookbooks? It turns out these cases take place during a few years while Shayne was based in New Orleans. In fact, on the back cover is a nifty map of the French Quarter highlighting the key locations of the cases.

Needless to say, I grabbed it, and had a ball reading it on vacation.

We had a great time in NOLA, and plan on return vacations. I can't think of any place that beats the French Quarter at night for atmosphere and exquisite food, and I don't mean just on Bourbon Street. In addition, my great-great-grandmother and great-great-great-grandfather were from New Orleans, and next trip I intend to track down the family mausoleum, if it still exists.

In related news, I wandered into Crescent City Books (also in the French Quarter) on my birthday, and wandered out with a copy of the Easton Press limited, leather-bound edition of Philip Jose Farmer's To Your Scattered Bodies Go (second edition).

All in all, a great trip.

P.S. Consider these your "pics o' the day." Now that I'm back from vacation, I'll try to resume the daily pics soon.

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Point of View - Why Do I Care?

2011-11-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

In the course of editing several Green Hornet books for Moonstone Books (as well as churning out a series of action-adventure tales for Moonstone, Black Coat Press, etc.), I've found that one of the hardest concepts to identify, adhere to, and explain to others is Point of View.

I should start by noting that many different types of POV are acceptable, depending on what the writer is trying to achieve, and the scope of the story being told. However, for short, driving, action-oriented stories with a modern pulp sensibility, I feel strongly that a third-person subjective/third-person limited POV works best, and from an editorial perspective this is the feedback and direction I provide. I've also noticed that other writer/editors whom I greatly respect, such as Christopher Paul Carey, Matthew Baugh, and Howard Hopkins, seem to be in alignment with this perspective (although I am not presuming to speak for them here).

(As an aside, there are some writers incorrectly think that proofreading is the same thing as editorial feedback, and since their spouse/mother/brother/best friend is an excellent proofreader, they really don't need to hear anything more from me or any other editor regarding their golden prose. But I digress; that's a diatribe for another time and place.)

Matthew has provided a great link to Wordplayer.com which discusses POV from a screenwriting perspective, but is also instructive for prose.

I can't believe I'm going to quote Wikipedia, but the Narrative Mode section which discusses third-person subjective/third-person limited POV is helpful.

Third-person, subjective

The third-person subjective is when the narrator conveys the thoughts, feelings, opinions, etc. of one or more characters. If it is just one character, it can be termed third-person limited, in which the reader is "limited" to the thoughts of some particular character (often the protagonist) as in the first-person mode (though still giving personal descriptions using "he", "she", "it", and "they", but not "I"). This is almost always the main character—e.g., Gabriel in Joyce's The Dead, Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, or the elderly fisherman in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. Certain third-person omniscient modes are also classifiable as "third person, subjective" modes that switch between the thoughts, feelings, etc. of all the characters.

This style, in both its limited and omniscient variants, became the most popular narrative perspective during the twentieth century. In contrast to the broad, sweeping perspectives seen in many nineteenth-century novels, third-person subjective is sometimes called the "over the shoulder" perspective; the narrator only describes events perceived and information known by a character. At its narrowest and most subjective scope, the story reads as though the viewpoint character were narrating it; dramatically this is very similar to the first person, in that it allows in-depth revelation of the protagonist's personality, but it uses third-person grammar. Some writers will shift perspective from one viewpoint character to another.

The focal character, protagonist, antagonist, or some other character's thoughts are revealed through the narrator. The reader learns the events of the narrative through the perceptions of the chosen character.

In our storytelling, through the use of third-person subjective, the reader is "limited" to the thoughts of some particular character. Perspective can shift from one viewpoint character to another, but when that happens, a scene break should be inserted. POV can alter scene-by-scene (one scene from The Green Hornet's POV, the next from Mike Axford's, the next from the criminal's POV, then back to The Green Hornet, or Kato, etc.), but mixing POV within a scene should be avoided. This is a matter of style, but one I consider to be very important and to which I hold writers during the editing/revision process.

My novel The Evil in Pemberley House (written with Philip Jose Farmer)is truly a third-person limited novel. There are no scenes, absolutely none, that are not told from Patricia Wildman's POV. In strict third-person limited, a novel or story could actually be (re)written in first person and it would work.

Expanding on that thought, regarding third-person subjective (i.e. multiple character POVs, each of them in third-person limited, with scene breaks, as I've described above), each scene could hypothetically be rewritten as a first person scene for that character. The result would be an odd story and I don't suggest anyone actually do this, but as a self-editing experiment (and everyone does extensive self-editing before sending a first draft to your editor... right?), you can see that if a scene is rewritten in first person, that first person narrator would never narrate events about which he or she is not, or cannot be, aware. The same thing therefore applies to writing that same character in a third-person subjective (and/or third-person limited) POV.

A simple way to conduct self-editing for POV violations before blissfully attaching your first draft to your editor and clicking "send" is to read a scene aloud to yourself, substituting first person "I" for for your third-person subjective "s/he" POV character. If the character narrates something they do not, or cannot, know about, then you've got a POV violation.

Once you get a handle on this (and I certainly can't claim to have "mastered" it; writers, experienced and inexperienced, violate POV on a regular basis), POV violations will jump out at you all over the place in your reading, and will drive you nuts. I am loathe to go back and read any of my early Tales of the Shadowmen stories, before I began to grasp POV, for fear of tossing them aside in disgust.

Or being compelled, in a very OCD way, to immediately rewrite and revise them!

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2011-11-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

Philip Jose Farmer: Lord Tyger

2011-11-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

For immediate release:

U.K publisher Titan Books has entered into an agreement with the Estate of Philip Jose Farmer to bring a large selection of Mr. Farmer's backlist titles back into print.

Third in Titan's lineup is Mr. Farmer's Lord Tyger, considered by many to be Mr. Farmer's finest standalone novel. First published in 1970, the novel tells the tale of Ras Tyger, who is kidnapped by an insane millionare bent on recreating the famous Lord of the Jungle. Tyger is raised in a remote African valley by people he believes to be apes; heroic, and beautiful, he is master of his world. And he rules his kingdom with sex, savagery, and sublime innocence. But the laws of nature and those of man are set to collide....

Lord Tyger is currently scheduled for release in July 2012, and will be available at major outlets such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Editions will include trade paperback and digital (Kindle & Nook).

Stay tuned to this space, Mr. Farmer's official website, and Facebook (Philip Jose Farmer | Win Scott Eckert) for information on other forthcoming titles.

Wold Newton series: Time's Last Gift

2011-11-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

For immediate release:

U.K publisher Titan Books has entered into an agreement with the Estate of Philip Jose Farmer to bring a large selection of Mr. Farmer's backlist titles back into print.

Significantly, many of the books which are a part of the arrangement initially were published as standalone novels, but came to be considered part of Mr. Farmer's ongoing Wold Newton Family cycle.

Now, for the very first time, these novels will be published and packaged as a formal part of a Wold Newton series.

Second in Titan's lineup is Mr. Farmer's Time's Last Gift, a time travel novel featuring a well known Lord of the Jungle, whose initials, TLG, happen to match the abbreviation of the book's title. First published in 1972, and revised in 1977, Time's Last Gift is one of Mr. Farmer's finest novels, and serves as a prequel to his series of books featuring the land of Khokarsa in Ancient Africa (Hadon of Ancient Opar, Flight to Opar, and the forthcoming The Song of Kwasin.)

Time's Last Gift is currently scheduled for release in June 2012, and will be available at major outlets such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Editions will include trade paperback and digital (Kindle & Nook).

Stay tuned to this space, Mr. Farmer's official website, and Facebook (Philip Jose Farmer | Win Scott Eckert) for information on other forthcoming titles.

Wold Newton series: The Other Log of Phileas Fogg

2011-11-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

For immediate release:

U.K publisher Titan Books has entered into an agreement with the Estate of Philip Jose Farmer to bring a large selection of Mr. Farmer's backlist titles back into print.

Significantly, many of the books which are a part of the arrangement initially were published as standalone novels, but came to be considered part of Mr. Farmer's ongoing Wold Newton Family cycle.

Now, for the very first time, these novels will be published and packaged as a formal part of a Wold Newton series.

First up is Mr. Farmer's The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, a "secret history" novel revealing the hidden events behind Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. First published in 1973, the book is considered to be one of the first examples of elder steampunk.

The Other Log of Phileas Fogg is currently scheduled for release in May 2012, and will be available at major outlets such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Editions will include trade paperback and digital (Kindle & Nook).

Stay tuned to this space, Mr. Farmer's official website, and Facebook (Philip Jose Farmer | Win Scott Eckert) for information on other forthcoming titles.

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2011-11-22T06:13:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday, Lord Greystoke!

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Happy birthdays, Doc and daughter Patricia!

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2011-11-11T06:30:00.001-07:00

Better known as... Casino Royale.

Happy Birthday, James Bond!

Martin Powell's SCARLET IN GASLIGHT

2011-11-10T20:55:00.001-07:00

Here's the front and back cover of the 25th Anniversary Edition of Martin Powell's SCARLET IN GASLIGHT (Sherlock Holmes meets Count Dracula) graphic novel, designed by Bill Cunningham and to be published by Pulp 2.0 Press. This volume features a new introduction by author/pulp scholar Win Scott Eckert (me!), and an in-depth interview with Martin Powell, conducted by Michael Leal, concerning the origin of the book. The pages have been cleaned up and enhanced, so Seppo Makinen's brilliant artwork shines like never before. On Sale Next Month!

Scarlet in Gaslight ™ Martin Powell. Artwork © Seppo Makinen.

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Pics o' the day resuming after a week off. :-)

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The Peerless Peer in German

2011-10-29T10:43:00.000-06:00

I'm very pleased to announce that contracts are signed and that a German translation of Philip Jose Farmer's classic Sherlock Holmes-Lord Greystoke pastiche The Peerless Peer will appear in 2012 from publisher Atlantis Verlag.

My friend Christian Endres has broken the news on his blog, and gave me the go-ahead to do so here. Christian, a big fan of Farmer and the Wold Newton Universe, was instrumental in making this happen, and this project is "his baby."

I'm pleased to note that the afterword I provided for the 2011 edition from Titan Books (which appears to be selling like hotcakes on Amazon) will also be included in the German edition.

The Game is Afoot!

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Sherlock Holmes: The Crossovers Casebook - October Previews

2011-10-01T11:04:00.002-06:00

Moonstone Books' Sherlock Holmes: The Crossovers Casebook is listed in the October Previews, with a target publication date of January 2012.

My story is "The Adventure of the Fallen Stone" takes place in 1917, a year after Philip Jose Farmer's The Peerless Peer, and sends Holmes and Watson to the quiet English village of Wold Newton. Of course there is much crossover goodness, with appearances by the detective Harry Dickson ("the American Sherlock Holmes"), a femme fatale of the Sax Rohmer variety, and an appearance by another Holmesian detective who also resided on Baker Street. Oh, and the mystery also has a strong tie to my Avenger tale "Happy Death Men," recently out in Moonstone's The Avenger: The Justice, Inc. Files.

The Diamond Item Code is OCT111169. Check it out, won't you?

Cover Art: Timothy Lantz
Edited by: Howard Hopkins
240 pages, b/w, Squarebound, 6”x9”, $16.95
ISBN: 10: 1-933076-99-2
ISBN: 13: 978-1-933076-99-7

Sherlock Holmes…teams up with other adventurers and investigators!

With the success of the Sherlock Holmes film with Robert Downey, Jr and Jude law, and the BBC television updating of the character (“Sherlock”), interest in him is at an all time high!

Moonstone Books is proud to present this original anthology featuring never before seen tales of the world’s first consulting detective, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!

Barbara Hambly, Will Murray, Kevin Van Hook, Martin Powell, Matthew Baugh, Martin Gately, Don Roff, Win Scott Eckert, Chris Sequiera, & Joe Gentile.

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Contents announced (revised) for Tales of the Shadowmen 8: Agents Provocateurs

2011-09-20T20:15:00.001-06:00

Contents announced (revised) for Black Coat Press' Tales of the Shadowmen 8: Agents Provocateurs

TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN 8: AGENTS PROVOCATEURS (December 2011)
cover artist: Jean-Claude Claeys

Matthew Baugh: Don Camillo and the Secret Weapon
Nicholas Boving: The Elfberg Red
Matthew Dennion: The Most Dreadful Monster
Win Scott Eckert: Marguerite's Tears
John Gallagher: The Books of Shadows (illustrated portfolio)
Martin Gately: Leviathan Creek
Micah Harris: Slouching Towards Camulodunum
Travis Hiltz: In the Caves of the Serpent
Paul Hugli: Sleep No More
Rick Lai: Vampire Renaissance
Joseph Lamere: Satan's Signature

Olivier Legrand: Lost in Averoigne
J.-M. & Randy Lofficier: The Affair of the Necklace Revisited
David McDonald: Catspaw
Chris Nigro: Patricide
John Peel: More Imaginative Sins
Dennis E. Power: Passing through the Hands of Steel
Pete Rawlik: Before the War, Five Dragons Roar
Joshua Reynolds: The Carolingian Stone
Frank Schildiner: The Death Bird
Michel Stéphan: With the Compliments of Nestor Burma!
Michel Vannereux: The Warlord of Vaha

The title and cover for next year's volume have also been selected:
TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN 9: LA VIE EN NOIR (December 2012)
cover artist: Nathalie Lial.

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Tales of the Shadowmen 8: Agents Provocatuers

2011-09-18T16:30:00.000-06:00

Was given a "last chance offer" last Sunday to contribute a "shortish story" to this year's Tales of the Shadowmen anthology. Cranked out a 1900 word story, "Marguerite's Tears" (as in Marguerite, Lady Blakeney, the wife of the Scarlet Pimpernel), and sent it off today.

The publisher of Black Coat Press lives in France and it's midnight there . . . damn time zones! Now I have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out if it's been accepted or not!

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The Return of Madame Atomos

2011-09-16T21:50:00.001-06:00

Amidst the recent high-profile releases of The Green Hornet Casefiles and The Avenger: The Justice, Inc. Files, I'd be remiss if I overlooked mentioning the release of the third volume in Black Coat Press' translations of the French series Madame Atomos by Andre Caroff.

From BCP publisher Jean-Marc Lofficier's page of Madame Atomos:

The deadly Madame Atomos (real name: Kanoto Yoshimuta) is a brilliant but twisted middle-aged female Japanese scientist who is out to revenge herself against the United States for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- where she was born.

A sample plot had the title character unleash a deadly new threat, such as radioactive zombies, deadly giant mushrooms, a madness-inducing ray, flaming tornadoes, etc.

The heroes opposing Madame Atomos are: Smith Beffort of the FBI, Dr. Alan Soblen, and Yosho Akamatsu of the Japanese Secret Police. Dr. Soblen was killed by Madame Atomos in No. 11. With the help of former master criminal Owen Bernitz, Beffort also created the "Green Dragon" squad to fight Madame Atomos.

An interesting development was the creation by Madame Atomos of a younger version of herself, Mie Azusa, dubbed Miss Atomos, groomed to continue the fight should Madame Atomos came to die. Mie eventually fell in love with Beffort, married him and joined forces with him to fight her evil progenitrix. They had a son, Bob, who was killed by Madame Atomos.

Madame Atomos herself regenerated into a younger self in No. 13, but remained as revenge-bent as ever. The series was left somewhat unfinished by the cancellation of the "Angoisse" imprint.

BCP's third volume is The Return of Madame Atomos by André Caroff; adapted by Michael Shreve:

Contents:
- Introduction by J.-M. Lofficier
- Miss Atomos vs. The KKK [Miss Atomos contre KKK] (1966)
- The Return of Madame Atomos [Le Retour de Mme Atomos] (1966)
- The Atomos Affair (short story by Win Scott Eckert)

Miss Atomos' fight to the death against the KKK, and her eventual betrayal after falling in love with Smith Beffort, herald the return of the sinister Madame Atomos -- deadlier than ever!

US$22.95 / GBP £14.99
5x8 trade paperback, 288 pages

My short story contribution to this volume, "The Atomos Affair," takes place during the New York Blackout on November, 9, 1965, which a later Atomos book said the villainess caused.

The story involves two secret agents and their avuncular boss. I hope you'll check it out. :-)

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Tales of the Shadowmen 8: Agents Provocateurs

2011-09-10T10:02:00.000-06:00

Contents announced for Black Coat Press' Tales of the Shadowmen 8: Agents Provocateurs

I unfortunately didn't have time to submit a tale for this year's anthology, but plan to be back in 2012.

TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN 8: AGENTS PROVOCATEURS (December 2011) :

Matthew Baugh: Don Camillo and the Secret Weapon
Nicholas Boving: The Elfberg Red
Matthew Dennion: The Most Dreadful Monster
John Gallagher: The Books of Shadows (illustrated portfolio)
Martin Gately: Leviathan Creek
Micah Harris: Slouching Towards Camulodunum
Travis Hiltz: In the Caves of the Serpent
Paul Hugli: Sleep No More
Rick Lai: Vampire Renaissance
Joseph Lamere: Satan's Signature
Olivier Legrand: Lost in Averoigne
J.-M. & Randy Lofficier: The Affair of the Necklace Revisited
David McDonald: Catspaw
Chris Nigro: Patricide
John Peel: More Imaginative Sins
Dennis E. Power: Passing through the Hands of Steel
Pete Rawlik: Before the War, Five Dragons Roar
Joshua Reynolds: The Carolingian Stone
Frank Schildiner: The Death Bird
Michel Stéphan: With the Compliments of Nestor Burma!
Michel Vannereux: The Warlord of Vaha

The title and cover for next year's volume have also been selected:
TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN 9: LA VIE EN NOIR (December 2012)
artist: Nathalie Lial.

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